EDUCATION TAKING OFF IN CHINA

When He Qinming passed the stiff entrance exams for university 20 years ago, his father's friend didn't congratulate him. Instead, he discouraged him, citing his own son, a high-school dropout, who had gone into business. "There was a saying back then -- making missiles doesn't pay as well as selling eggs. But that was a temporary phenomenon," says Dr. He. Now 40, the balding computer-science professor is on the cutting edge of the latest Chinese formula for success: education. This fall, he helped to launch China's first dual-degree program. Students in Canada and China will take five years of computer science together, in Mandarin and English, dividing their time between Vancouver's Simon Fraser University and Dr. He's school, Zhejiang University (pronounced Je-jeng).

Bryan Shen, 20, a freshman at ZU, has applied for one of 25 Chinese slots. Unlike the Canadian students, he won't know until next month if he has been chosen. He's keen, and not just because of the computer science he'll learn. "At home, you can get great marks in English, but you can't speak it," he says, in passable English. (He's already going by his foreign name, picked in homage to Canadian rocker Bryan Adams.)

To an outsider, it seems that all China cares about is money, money, money. That's true. But the difference is many now believe they need a top-quality education to make even more money. In tandem with the 9 per cent annual growth of its gross domestic product, China is expanding its education sector faster than ever before in its history. "The role of education is closely linked with economic development," says Kang Changyun, a professor at Beijing Normal University. Next year, he plans to launch a joint degree program with the University of British Columbia, for a two-year master's in science education.

In the mid-1980s, about the time Dr. He was being urged to go into business, only 2 or 3 per cent of Chinese students went on to university. By 2002, that number had jumped to 15 per cent, or 16 million students. By 2010, the target is 30 million students. During the 1990s, the number of people attending university in India rose from 4.9 million to 9.4 million. "Now China is probably double that of India," says Nello Angerilli, who heads international education at Simon Fraser. "It's a mind-boggling expansion." In China, the booming economy means parents have money to invest -- in their one and only child. And traditional values are back. Education is once again esteemed both for its own sake, and as a way to get ahead. "In Mao Zedong's time, he wanted people who obeyed. He said: don't read so many books. Just obey," says Chen Yue, a vice-dean at ZU. "Now, if you want to be stronger and stronger internationally, you need to improve the quality of your people."

Chairman Mao also said, "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend." Today, he could make that a couple of thousand. While Canada has about 30 universities, China had 1,396 in 2002, plus another 1,000 private colleges and universities. And China is building new universities every year. Just as the business sector is expanding through joint ventures and turnkey operations, so is education. From a standing start 15 years ago, China now has 90 MBA programs and 30 executive MBA programs, according to Paul Beamish, of the Asian Management Institute at the University of Western Ontario.

Meanwhile, he has seen the Chinese mainland students at UWO's Richard Ivey School of Business increase yearly. "After Canadians, people from China are the second largest group," he says. In the newest class, Chinese mainland students now account for 50 of the 173 students. "It develops a very nice future network," he adds.

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Australian Universities dominate World Rankings

(On a per head basis). Post lifted from Australian blogger Neo-Con

I know this report was released a few days ago, but I only came across this staggering statistic today:

The UK is home to 24 of the top 200 universities, second only to the US with 54 and ahead of Australia, in third place with 17.

While the article was congratulating Great Britain's performance, consider how well Australia polled, especially given our population in comparison to the other two.

* Australian Population: 20,090,437
* Australian Universities in top 200: 17
* Australian ratio of top 200 universities per one million inhabitants: .8426
* United Kingdom population:60,441,457
* United Kingdom Top 200 Universities: 24
* United Kingdom ratio of top 200 Universities per one million inhabitants: .3971
* United States Population: 295,734,134
* United States top 200 Universities: 54
* United States ratio of top 200 Universities per one million inhabitants: .1826

The stats are my own, and clearly show Australia's relative domination of the rankings. Australia also secured one University in the top 20 for the first time, with Melbourne University coming in at the 19th best University in the world.




Parents: How to make the most of online schools: "The development of the Internet and the increasing public desire for educational choices have brought about a wide variety of online programs for school-age students. There are public and private schools that offer full-time or part-time programs, programs for gifted students and programs for those seeking to catch up, and religious and non-religious programs. Different programs have varying resources, teacher availability, and professional support. How can parents best navigate this online world to supplement their children's education?"

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

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